Of Bows and Arrows
by canaryhowl
Summary: A new generation of superhero is emerging. Artemis has left the life of a superhero, but will the appearance of inexperienced copycats force her out of retirement? And isn't the Team due for another archer? Arrow Family. Invasion. Spitfire.
1. Prologue

Author's note: I decided to add a prologue as a lead in to the story. The first few chapters are introducing the new archers, who are all comic book characters. Cissie has already had a cameo in the show, but Mia and Connor haven't appeared (yet?). This takes place during season 2. I would appreciate any kind of feedback at all. Should I only stick to characters that have appeared thus far in the cartoon? Who do you like better: Mia or Cissie?

Summary: Former sidekicks have a discussion about sidekicks.

Characters: Wally West and Artemis Crock

Prologue: Hypothetically

"Do you miss being a hero?" Wally asked, wistfully, over the background noise of a movie playing on the TV. "I miss it everyday."

"Shhhh. I'm trying to watch the movie." Artemis elbowed Wally in the ribs to quiet him down and turned back to the screen.

"Hypothetically," Wally said, wrapping his arm around Artemis's shoulders. "If you were still a superhero, would you ever take on a sidekick?"

"Wally, do we really need to be talking about this right now?" Artemis asked, snatching the bowl of popcorn away from her boyfriend. Now he was ruining their monthly movie night with a stupid question.

He picked up the remote and paused the movie. "This is a serious question! Just answer it, and we can go back to the movie." Of course it wouldn't be that simple.

"I guess it depends on the circumstance. If it would save her, I don't know, I think I would probably agree to take her on as my sidekick. After Green Arrow helped me out, I don't see how I could possibly deny another young girl the same opportunity. But I would never put her in unnecessary danger. Hypothetically." Artemis looked back at the television screen, wishing they could just watch the movie in peace. She had picked out a romantic comedy for a reason.

"Her?"

"I'm not trying to be sexist or anything, but she also would have to be a girl." Smirking, Artemis tossed a popcorn kernel in Wally's direction. "Turn the movie back on already!"

"I see how it is, but I also have to say that never in a million years would I ever have taken on a sidekick." Wally shook his head to emphasize the point.

"I can see why. You were such an obnoxious jerk of a sidekick! You would never wish that on yourself."

"Hey!"

"There are three speedsters already, so it's not out of the question that there will be others. And if other speedsters popped up, you're saying that you would tell them to fend for themselves?"

"Oh, now we're gender neutral?" Wally frowned in thought. "I guess I'd let Jay train him. Jay's never had a sidekick!"

"Don't tell me you don't want to endanger young children's lives or something. We both know that's not true. Your Kid Flash days were the best days of your entire life!"

"Second to my days with you," Wally said sweetly. "Anyway, it's just that personally, I don't think I would be able to stand an annoying kid sidekick tagging along with me on missions."

She tugged the remote out of Wally's hands and turned the TV off. Her expression turned deadly serious. "Are you saying that you don't want kids?"

"No!" Wally replied, flustered. "I mean, I'm not ready for them right now, but one day… And when I have them, they will never be allowed to become superheroes."

"So hypothetically speaking, you would never ever have a sidekick, and our hypothetical kids will never be allowed to join the superhero business," Artemis summarized. "Can I still teach them archery?"

Wally's heart did a little flutter. She wanted to have kids with him! "Sure thing, sweetie." Kissing her gently, he pulled her onto his lap.

Artemis twisted so that she could have a better view of her boyfriend's face. "If our kids are archers with superspeed, we need to let them become superheroes. If we don't, I'm pretty sure that's a sure recipe for them becoming supervillains."

"Are we already up to their rebellious teenage years?" Wally teased.

"I'm just being realistic!"

"No one from our team has a sidekick yet," Wally commented. He didn't understand why she was so surprised that he wouldn't have mentored any young heroes if he had continued his superhero career. Wait, he was the one who had brought the topic up. Why had he done that again?

"Miss Martian has Beast Boy to teach the art of shapeshifting."

"Yeah, but I was a good influence on Gar too. It's more of a group thing with him. Did you know that he still does the souvenir thing?" It made Wally proud that someone was continuing a tradition that he had started.

"That's cute."

"Yeah," he agreed, smiling fondly. Gar was the youngest of the new kids and would probably feel very embarrassed if he new they were calling him cute.

"See! You don't mind annoying, inexperienced heroes that tag along! No offense to Gar, but he's pretty much the definition of those things." Sometimes Gar reminded her of a younger Wally.

"But at least the whole team was there to dilute it. And let's face it; karma would give me the most aggravating, hyperactive sidekick ever. I would die"

"Nightwing kind of has a sidekick, and he's surviving. You know, the new Robin. Nightwing's more of a mentor to that kid than Batman is." It was sometimes hard to imagine Batman being good with kids.

"I guess that counts…" Wally acquiesced after a moment of thought. "It also brings up my other question: what if Flash or Green Arrow replaces us with a new sidekick? I mean we're retired, so it's really only a matter of time before we're replaced. I'm not so sure about it… Nightwing has taken it really well, but he's like the big brother of the Bat Family. It makes me feel really insignificant that Barry could just replace me, right?"

"But you're his nephew, Wally. He would never do something like that to you without consulting you first. He probably will never replace you at all. I have to say, Ollie would definitely replace me without so much as an, 'Oh yeah, I replaced you,' but I'm not one to say anything." There had been a lot of conflict between her and Red Arrow, and although he had been programmed to try to pin suspicion of being the mole on her, it was an example of the passing down of the sidekick torch failing.

"It's not like you were aiming to replace Roy!"

"No…" Artemis sighed, snuggling in closer to Wally. They sat in silence for a while just staring into each other's eyes. The relaxing mood from the movie night was lost.

"All this talk has made me think of something," Artemis said, tracing circles on Wally's chest. "I actually want kids, and I don't think we should wait until later. We should help kids that don't have anywhere else to go. Maybe we should take in a foster kid or something." Although she had been thinking about it for a while, the time had never felt right to bring it up, not until now. She looked at Wally expectantly, but he had other thoughts going through his had.

Jumping to his feet, Wally pushed Artemis to the other side of the couch. "You do realize that we're college students right? We don't have enough time and attention, let alone money to support a kid."

Despite Wally's logical points, Artemis wasn't ready to give up. "You'll just have to eat less to save money, and we'll work our schedules so that one of us at home in the afternoon. At the very least, we'll be able to give a kid a place to stay and show them that people care about them."

"We both have part time jobs. We can't just…" Wally trailed off at the expression of sheer disappointment on Artemis's face. "Listen, I'll think about it, and we'll this discussion on pause for a week, then we'll resolve it." He stared at her expressively and stepped forward to touch her face. "You can finish the movie without me. I'm going to sleep."


	2. Mia

For the one person who is reading this: I added a prologue. Also, chapter 2 features Cissie/Arrowette.

Oops. I left out a disclaimer; sorry for the confusion.

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to DC/Warner Bros. There are no OC's in this story. All characters are DC characters. The first few chapters are re-imaginings of the characters' origins. In conclusion, just to be clear, this is fanfiction.

I really like Mia's origin, so I didn't change much...but there are elements from her comics origin and her Smallville origin mixed in. I just reread her comic debut and rewatched her Smallville debut to get a better feel for her character, but I prefer the comic book Mia. In other words, this is not a Smallville/YJ crossover. This is a different Mia, like how the YJ characters are similar to but not exactly the same as their comic counterparts. Cissie's origin is more different, especially since it takes place in Star City and the Arrow Family is involved.

Story summary: A new generation of superhero is emerging, and the up-and-coming archers haven't escaped the current group's attention. Star City seems to be a magnet for archer heroes, but the current Team Arrow can't just let anyone operate in their city. Who will make the cut?

Characters: The Team, Wally West, and Team Arrow

Team Arrow- Oliver Queen/Green Arrow, Roy Harper/Red Arrow, and Artemis Crock. And introducing… Mia Dearden, Cissie King-Jones, and Connor Hawke

Connor is Connor Hawke and Conner is Conner Kent/Superboy. Hopefully it's not too confusing.

Canon Pairings.

* * *

Chapter 1: Mia

Mia Dearden walked into the Star City Youth Center, collapsing onto the sofa next to another teenager. She sunk into the cushions, but she was not ready to relax yet.

"You clean?" a tall, beefy, African American woman asked her.

"Come on! You know I've been clean for a while." She crossed her arms around her chest and tried to evade the woman, but the older woman grabbed her by the wrists.

"Roll up your sleeves."

She obliged, pulling the sleeves of her sweatshirt up to her biceps. Track marks scarred the crook of her elbow, but the scars were beginning to fade.

"Follow me."

They walked towards the bathroom, and the woman handed her a small cup.

"You know the rules. Urinate into the cup. No locking the door." She kicked open all of the stalls and searched around, but the bathroom was empty.

Mia stared at the cup self-consciously, but proceeded to the nearest stall. She wished that she'd had more to drink earlier because she did not particularly feel the need to pee.

A loud bang shook her stall. "Hurry up, Mia. I don't have all day. There are other kids waiting outside."

"I'm coming!" she shouted. Capping the lid, she handed the urine sample to the woman and exited the bathroom.

"You can go join the activities," the woman informed her. "I'll talk to you later."

Nodding, Mia jogged outside to her favorite place in all of Star City: the youth center's archery range. When she shot her arrows, the whole world would just disappear around her, and she could forget who she really was for a moment, what she really was.

"Hello, Mia!" Connor called, smiling serenely in her direction. He was the archery instructor at the youth center, and he wasn't even the type that volunteered part time; it was his full-time job. The most popular rumor was that he was a former monk who traveled the world before deciding to donate his time to disadvantaged youth. Mia had to admit that she had the biggest crush on Connor. He was only around eighteen or nineteen, and he was in killer shape, blond, and multiethnic. Nearly every girl, and even some guys, agreed that he was the hottest person in Star City, but he was still a monk at heart and had sworn off romance. His real love in life was archery and helping others. He was almost too perfect.

"Hey, Connor. What's up?" She grabbed a bow and some arrows from the shed, setting up at the target next to Connor's.

"Mia…" A dark look came over his face, a look that was unfamiliar and disturbing on someone as calm as Connor. "What happened to your face?" He dropped his equipment, and pulled her face in nearer to examine it more closely.

She jerked away from him, twisting his arm. "It's nothing."

Connor's concerned expression turned angry in an instant. "It was your pimp, wasn't it? You told me that you left him—that you were staying at a women's shelter."

Immediately, Mia's blood ran cold. "I lied," she said, her voice level.

"I'm trying to help you, Mia. And I can't help if you're not completely honest with me," Connor explained calmly.

A figure approached the archery range, catching both Connor's and Mia's attentions. It was the woman from earlier who had taken Mia's urine sample, and the stern expression on her face did not bode well at all. "Mia? I'm afraid it's time for you to leave now."

"What? Why?" Connor spoke for the teenager.

"The results from Mia's last urine test have come in. She tested positive for cocaine."

Connor turned around to ask Mia for confirmation. He didn't want to believe it, but the deer in the headlights look on her face was enough to tell him that it was true. "You've been shooting up again?"

"It was just that one time! I swear I've been clean since then! I'm trying so hard. You've got to believe me!"

"I'm sorry, Mia. You know the rules." The disappointment on Connor's face hurt Mia more than his words did.

A stabbing pain of guilt and frustration pierced Mia's heart. She had made many mistakes in her fifteen years, but she had never had anyone to let down before. Now, looking in Connor's eyes, Mia couldn't handle the regret, so she ran. She left the youth center. She passed the street corner where she frequently found herself propositioning herself night in, night out. She ran to the dingy apartment where she lived and straight into her pimp's arms.

"Hey, girl. Where you been at? Richard's been looking all over for you." He leaned against the door frame and leered down at Mia.

A shiver passed down through her spine, but she chose to ignore it and instead replied cheekily, "Well, Mia thinks that Richard sounds like a fucking lunatic when he talks in third person."

Richard lashed out violently, sending Mia reeling. She stumbled down the front steps, landing on the cold, hard pavement. The wind was knocked out of Mia's stomach, but then, Richard helped her up and led her into the apartment. He guided her over to a bed and lay down beside her. "Mama Mia, you are just so beautiful. Why do you you always make me hurt you? You know it hurts me more than you," he purred, stroking her hair. "I love you."

Mia shifted in the bed to get a better view of Richard. "I love you too," she said, wrapping her arms around his torso, but inside, she was picturing a different man, any other man, a man who would treat her right.

* * *

"Wake up, Mia! Ain't picking up your slack for you tonight, that's for sure."

Someone thrust a skimpy dress into her arms, but Mia pulled a lump of blankets over her head and went back to sleep. An hour later, she realized that there was no way she could possibly bring in enough money to please Richard tonight with a late start like she was getting. When she returned early the next morning, he would greet her with a severe punishment, unless she never came back. Looking around, it registered in Mia's head that she had no belongings, no money of her own, and nowhere to go. Richard was the only one in the world who cared about her. Being with him was still better than living with her dad. Anything was better than being with her dad. Her life was severely fucked up. Sighing, she pulled on the skimpy outfit.

She stood shivering on her street corner. She trailed her arm down her body, half sensually and half in a feeble attempt to warm herself. By now, she was used to the disdainful glances from some of the more refined members of Star City's society, but it didn't make it any easier. Tonight was a slow night, with most men passing her by with only a derisive sneer in her direction. She was probably too old for them anyway.

Finally, a green Ferrari pulled up right next to her, and she got in. Like most of her clients, the man driving the car was far older than her tastes. He had a full head of blond hair and a very distinct goatee. She had never understood facial hair.

The blond man rolled up the windows of the car and floored the accelerator. Grinning, he turned to his passenger.

"Hello, Mia."


	3. Cissie

Chapter 2: Cissie

"Cissie! Where are you? You're going to be late for your lesson with an Olympic class archer!" Bonnie King stood outside her daughter's room, pounding on the door incessantly. "Are you even in there?"

"Mother," Cissie said icily, "This 'Olympic class archer' isn't you by any chance, is it?"

"Um…"

"You can give me archery lessons whenever, mom! I'm busy right now."

"I just want to spend some time with you. You hardly ever come out of your room anymore!"

The door squeaked open, and Cissie walked out, dressed in a tiny tank top that revealed her midriff and short shorts that barely covered her legs. She combed her fingers through her long blonde hair and glared at her mother.

"Cissie! Go change this instant or I swear I'll never let you shop by yourself again!"

"Everyone dresses like this! Why do you have to be so old-fashioned?" She rolled her eyes at her mother's obnoxious behavior.

"Don't give me lip! Go change into something more appropriate for your age."

"You are so hypocritical. That costume you gave me leaves nothing to the imagination!"

"That's completely different! It's a superhero uniform, not everyday clothing. You've always said that you want to be a superhero."

"That was when I was a little girl, and Green Arrow and Artemis had just saved dad's life. Five years ago! That's like forever!"

"Cissie, I think that you would make a great superhero. Now, go change into your uniform, and wear some clothes that will cover it up."

"That's what this is about? God, mom, you are so predictable. You're always confusing my dreams with your own." Huffing, Cissie stormed back into her room, slamming the door behind her, but she listened to her mother anyway, changing her outfit in accordance with her mother's wishes.

When she opened the front door and was greeted with the harsh chill outside, Cissie was actually glad that she had been forced to change. The weather had been unseasonably cold that week. They were driving toward the archery center when five police cars, two fire trucks, and two ambulances drove by, sirens blaring and lights flashing. After they passed, Bonnie jerked her wheel to the side and pressed down on the accelerator, following the commotion. The emergency vehicles led to the front of a bank.

"Grab your bow and arrows from the trunk and stop that robbery, Cissie."

"Mom! I'm pretty sure it's an armed robbery. And they're probably not armed with arrows." She crossed her arms and stayed in her seat.

Bonnie exited the car, walked around to the passenger door, and physical pulled her daughter out of her seat. Seething, Cissie headed to the back of the car and retrieved her weapons. Luckily, listening to her mom would also mean getting away from her. She pulled on her sequined mask and ran past the police barricade, entering the bank. The rest of her outfit consisted of the shortest white skirt that she had ever seen that could still legally be called a skirt, and a yellow sports bra.

Masked men stood at various points around the bank, and they all trained their guns on her. She supposed that it was good that they were no longer focusing on the hostages, but that didn't stop terror from seeping into her bones.

"Stop right there!" she shouted, pulling an arrow from her quiver.

"What are you, Arrow Girl?" a man sneered, preparing to pull the trigger of his gun. But before he could, Cissie released the arrow, shooting him right in the arm.

The other men looked at their partner, following his gaze back to the young archer. They hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to do. Cissie took advantage of their confusion, firing a few more arrows, but suddenly, she felt a sharp pain in her leg. She reached down at the bullet wound, fighting through the white-hot pain. Grimacing, she let herself fall to her knees.

"I would tell you not to do anything stupid, but I guess it's too late for that," a gruff voice said. "I need to tell Artemis that she's got her own little fangirl." Cissie looked up to see a man standing above her. His red hair was long and greasy, and it looked as though he hadn't showered or shaved in days. His eyes were hidden by a domino mask, but his red uniform, red bow, and red arrows were somewhat familiar.

Red arrows… "Red Arrow?" she questioned. He didn't look the same as he had the last time she had seen him on the television, but who was she to judge? Just a useless, wannabe superhero.

Ignoring her, he took down the remaining bank robbers. His movements were sloppy, less graceful than she had expected, but they got the job done.

"Give me your parents' phone number. I'm taking you to the hospital."

"My mom's right outside," Cissie explained. "She sent me in here. She's waiting for me. She must be getting impatient." Her head was beginning to get fuzzy. She had never lost this much blood before.

Red Arrow's posture changed, and his ever-present frown deepened. "Forget that. I'm taking you directly to the hospital, and I'm calling child services on the way."

Cissie would have protested, but she was feeling tired and lethargic, which was odd because she had slept nearly twelve hours the night before. "Daddy, will you bring me my blanket…"


End file.
